I do want to give everyone a very warm welcome to this installation service here this evening. We welcome all who have gathered, and we do welcome especially the Higginson and the Stewart Family Circle and Friends. We do welcome those as well who are joining us through the World Wide Web over Sermon Audio and Facebook. We do thank you for joining with us, and we trust that the Lord will bless us as we fellowship together this evening. On behalf of the Lisburn Church, I would want to thank the session and committee of the Martyrs Memorial for the use of the building here this evening. We are, to the best of our ability, observing social distancing, and we want to thank each one in attendance for that. We do pay tribute tonight to our stewards, They have done their level best to get us all seated, socially distanced, and we do thank you for your understanding and for your cooperation in that. And this evening, we're not having congregational singing as such, but we are going to play the hymns that are on your order of service. And you can follow the words in the order of service. They're also on the screen. And for those who are at home, they're able to follow with us as well. This opening hymn, And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood? Died he for me who caused his pain? for me who him to death pursued. Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? We're going to ask you to stand as we listen to the singing of this hymn, and if you would like to join in, that's fine, but just sing along softly and reverently as unto the Lord. Standing to sing. I'm going to be what I should be, an interest in the Savior's love. I'm here for me, who loves his way, for me, who my lord my lord is This mercy all, let earth adore. Let angels rise in final war. This mercy all, let earth adore. Let angels rise in final war. So we surrender thy disgrace. After himself, he watched us fall. Oh, my God, if I were Thee, I'd stand still in ransomed grief, Oh, my God, if I were Thee. I hope the dark can fade with light. My roots and thorns that follow me. I chased them all. My heart was free. My roots and thorns that follow me. No foundation, thou my friend, Now I'm in heaven, I'm in heaven, I'm golden and free. O rite of ghosts, eternal throne, and with the God through Christ my own, O rite of ghosts. You may be seated. You can see tonight from our order of service that we have quite a program to get through this evening. And so I'm going to call men on block, and they can follow after one another. And we'll be using the lecterns down at the front of the church. And we hope to use them alternately by each of the men taking part. And the rules are that if you touch the lectern, then you have to wipe it down for the next man coming after you. Now, we're going to call upon the Reverend Thomas Martin. He's the former minister of Lisburn. He's going to open in prayer. Then immediately after he does so, Dr. John Douglas, the senior minister of Lisburn, he's going to come to read the scriptures. And then the Reverend Garth Wilson, who's the minister of Sandown Road Free Presbyterian Church. He's going to come and bring greetings from Presbytery. So we'll ask those three men to come one after another. Thank you. Hearts together at the throne of grace before the Lord. I would just like to add my own personal congratulations to the Reverend Higginson and his family in the call to the church in Lisburn. As you know, the church in Lisburn has been dear to my own heart, having pastored there for well over 20 years. And I was delighted to hear that the call had gone out to our brother, Roger, and also that he has accepted that. And I would just want to assure the Reverend Higginson, and his wife Elaine, and Sarah, and Luke, and Joshua, and the congregation in Lisburn, that we have been praying for you every day, and we will covenant before God to pray for you. And we trust that the Lord will give to our brother as he takes up the charge on the Lord's day morning and evening, souls for his hire. and that God would bless his ministry as he had blessed that ministry in Coleraine. And we do believe that he's in the will of God. Those who have heard that call online are present in the building at that time when he gave the call of God and explained, we know he's at the center of God's will. and there the sweetest place on earth and the soundest place you could ever be and we pray brother god will richly bless you in your ministry and we pray that god will send you to reap and you'll have souls for your heart let's just unite our hearts together in thanksgiving to the lord and worship of our god father we come to thee with thanksgiving in our heart this evening. We come, O God, with praise before Thee, and we enter into Thy courts on the ground of the finished work of the cross. We're not coming in the name of a denomination. We're not seeking, O God, by established righteousness and good works to present ourselves before Thee. but we stand in union with Christ. We thank thee for our mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. We stand by blood alone. We enter into thy courts knowing that we have by faith the righteousness of Christ. imputed unto us. We thank thee that we stand accepted in the well-beloved, and we have a right of approach into the presence of a holy God. And as we come before thee, it is our first duty to worship and to acknowledge thee as God. We recognize our Father at thy heart, gracious and loving and kind. We thank thee, O God, for mercy seen and unseen, and for all of the Lord's benevolence toward his people. We think of that great text in the psalm that we read today. Lord blessed be God who daily loatheth us with benefits even the God of our salvation and we thank thee above all things for our blessed Savior the one who is the sole King and the only head of the church. We thank thee he's the one who said I and will build my church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And we thank Thee, O God, that as we approach Thee, we can thank Thee for Thy only begotten and well-beloved Son. We thank Thee for Calvary tonight, for the place where our Redeemer died. We thank Thee for the one who is God-blessed forevermore, who became a man by Virgin birth, who lived as a man and dwelt amongst men, lived a sinlessly perfect life, and then gave himself into the hands of cruel and wicked men, and there on Calvary he was lifted up to die. We thank that he's the sinner's substitute. We praise thee, O God, for the wonderful design of the gospel. Who could have thought that God himself would become a human being and die the creator for man, the creature's sin? And we thank thee that Calvary he offered himself without spot to God. He shed his crimson, ruby, royal, redeeming blood. We thank thee he poured out his life in an atoning death. He paid the price for sin. We thank thee, O God, visited upon the sinless body of thine only begotten Son were all the sins of all his believing people. And he paid that price in full. He finished the work. We rejoice he rose from the dead. We serve a risen Saviour, He's exalted to Thy right hand, and the highest place that heaven affords is His by sovereign right. And we come to worship and to give Thee thanks for this historic occasion. We thank Thee, O God, for our blessed Saviour who not only saves sinners but calls them into the ministry. Lord, Thou hast placed Thy servant in Lisbon, Thou hast given to him the charge. And Lord, we bless Thee and thank Thee for this open door. which no man can shut, and we thank thee, O God, for his past labour in Coleraine. We thank thee, O God, for the way he endeared himself to that congregation, and we commend, O God, our sister congregation in Coleraine to thee, and in the absence of the under-shepherd, we pray that very soon they will know the mind and will of Christ, the head of the church, and we will see a man of thine own choosing and calling, placed into the pulpit there. Watch over the work in Lisbon. We give thy servant to thee. We thank thee, O God, for thy blessing upon his ministry already. And we pray that as he takes up this new charge, that the Spirit of God will infill him. And as he takes those vows tonight, we pray that he may make full proof of his ministry by the infilling of the Spirit of the living God. Lord, we know that he's been filled before to preach, but we pray you'll give him a greater measure of the Spirit. Give him a new experience, O God, in ministry. Give him perfect liberty, and God grant that you will bless his labour there. And may he reap, O God, whereupon perhaps he's bestowed no labour, and give to him the early and the latter rain. We pray that precious souls will come under conviction and be brought to the Saviour, even in this meeting. and through the online streaming. We pray that if there are those who are out of Christ without a Savior, that this very night, thou wouldst mark the beginning of his ministry in Lisbon and the conversion of some soul or souls. We pray that thou wouldst come and convict of sin, Lord, come and work by thy spirit, and Lord, bring precious souls to conversion. Hear prayer tonight and for this meeting. Remember all who will take part, especially, O God, as thy servant. will come to preach the word. We pray you'll encourage thy servant. We thank thee for his ministry on Monday evening in this very house. And we thank thee, O God, for thy blessing that he's been, O God, as our moderator in the denomination. And we pray that tonight he may be unmuzzled as he treads out the corn, that his own soul be fed and encouraged as he preaches the word. and it be evident that he's filled with the Spirit and he is a word from God to our hearts. And we pray, Lord, you will set thy seal to this meeting and bless thy word to all of our souls. We pray that thy presence, that we have felt already, will intensify upon all of our hearts. And we give ourselves now to thee and pray for thy blessing and thy help in this meeting. And Father, in answer now to prayer, Be pleased to save the unconverted. Draw the backslider back to first love again. Revive thine own church. Glorify thy son. And the people of God say it. Amen. Let us all turn to the Word of God this evening. We're going to read from Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 6. While you're turning up the place, I may say, personally, I'm very pleased to be here tonight. It's a privilege to have a part in this historic service, to know that the time has come again in the history of our congregation in Lisburn for the installation of the Lord's Servant My brother, Mr. Higginson, he and I have known one another for quite some years, and we have encouraged one another in the Lord as well. What a privilege to be here, to have a part in the service, to be reading the Word of God. And I have the thought as well, coming to this installation service, that we have a man installed to the pastorate of our church in Lisburn who believes the book, who knows and loves the Lord, who has been preaching Christ these years, not only in this little country of ours, but also much further afield. And we could say a lot about that. But I suppose I have the opportunity, although our clerk of session will be giving a formal welcome to you all, and in particular to Mr. and Mrs. Higginson, yet I can say in a personal way, welcome to Lisburn, and we pray for you the touch of God. We're glad that we're installing a born again man in the ministry, a man who believes the book, who preaches Christ, and who's looking for the stirrings of God in his own soul, and may the Lord be pleased to grant him those superabounding blessings that we have in Christ. So indeed, informally, welcome to Lisbon. Let us turn then to this God-breathed word, this book of books, this word of life, I'm reading from Ephesians 6, verse 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and above all, taking the shield of faith For with ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying all this with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. I'm watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints and for me. That utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds. that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. Amen. May the Lord bless the reading of his word for the glory and honor of his name. When I was asked to bring greetings tonight from Presbytery, The first question I asked Roger was, what does that entail? It's not that I hadn't been to installation services before. I just obviously didn't pay enough attention. So I've been asked to do this job with not a very clear job description. So just bear with us for a few moments. Anyway, it is an immense privilege and personal honor for me to be asked to be a part of this very special meeting tonight. Reverend Higginson is not only a colleague in the ministry, but he is also a very close and very good personal friend with whom we have many conversations throughout the course of most days, not all of them the most sensible, mind you. Nevertheless, it is a privilege and a pleasure for me to be a part of this important night in his life. Irvin Higginson is held in the highest of regard in our presbytery and in our denomination and across our province. He would not want me to say this tonight. I may get into trouble for saying this, but he is one of the finest preachers. and teachers of the Word of God. His ministry, his gospel preaching has been used of God, not only in Korea, but also in many places across our province. And on behalf of the presbytery tonight, I want to pass on our best wishes to the Reverend Higginson, to Mrs. Higginson, to Sarah, to Luke, and to Joshua. I pray the Lord will bless you as a family. It is the prayer of our presbytery, and indeed of all gathered here tonight, that the Lord would really use you and be with you, and that you very quickly would settle into the ministry and life in Lisburn. I have every confidence that that will be the case. because as a family, they go to Lisbon to start this new chapter, this new period in their lives in the will of God. As Roger related to me, the very clear leading of God in his life, the burdening of his heart, and the circumstances since the call was issued, and the doors that were opened especially for the school places for Sarah, for Luke, and for Joshua, This was nothing but the Lord ordering the steps of his servant and his family. The call of God was clear. It was without mistake. And so, Irvine Higginson, as you and your family take up the work in Lisburn, you do so, as you know very much, in the centre of the will of God. And as such, the Lord will bless you, and the Lord will use you. to the congregation in Lisbon, we extend our greetings to you as well. This is a new start and an exciting chapter in the history of your church and congregation as well. And while I know that God's servant is moving to minister in his home congregation, most importantly, he's moving to minister in the congregation that the Lord would have him to be in. This is a new beginning for you, and as a congregation, I know you will take the Reverend Higginson and his family to heart. I have every confidence that the session committee and the congregation in Lisburn will get behind and support God's man. Let me encourage you to do that, to pray for him, to support him, to stand with him. Support him by your presence at the Lord's Day services. Support him by your presence in the place of public prayer. Support him and stand with him as he seeks to stand for the Lord and work and labour for the Lord in Lisbon. Like all of us, he's just a man. And he needs the prayers of the people to whom he will minister to every week. And as people and pastor, as you seek to move forward and press on in the work of God in Lisbon, you do so with the great assurance tonight that the work is the Lord's. The church is his church. You are his people. The Reverend Higginson is God's servant. And with that truth, that wonderful promise then the Lord gives to his church and to his people, and very specifically to the work in Lisburn, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. What an assurance. What a promise. There's absolutely no doubt tonight that God's servant will continue to preach and proclaim the gospel of Christ. He will continue to uplift Christ in his preaching, and he will continue to labour for the Lord as he did for all those years in Korean. Therefore, as Reverend Higginson, his dear wife and family, along with the Lisburn congregation, seek to labour and work together They do so with that assurance that while the man in the pulpit may have changed, the message from the pulpit will not have changed. The message of the gospel of Christ, that message, which alone is the power of God unto salvation. In concluding my remarks tonight, we must not forget the congregation in Coleraine, We know that you have lost a great preacher and a very faithful and very caring pastor. And I know you'll miss the Reverend Higginson and his family greatly. But as I'm sure you've already been encouraged to do, now more than ever, you need to pray. Pray very specifically. that God would burden your heart for God's man, for Corian, and that God would burden the heart of that man, that man that he has already appointed to be your pastor and to be your under-shepherd. Pray for clarity. Pray for unity. Pray that as the Lord would burden your heart, that the Lord would also burden the hearts of all the congregation for that same man. and that in God's good time, the pulpit would be filled with God's man to take on and take forward the work of God there in your town and in your area. These are very strange and very different times. Yet no matter where we may be serving or working the Lord, Let's never forget the Great Commission is still incumbent upon the Church today. We still need to go and preach and we still need to go and reach more than ever before. Our province needs the gospel more than ever before. It needs to hear the greatest news, the most positive news that any man, woman, young person could ever hear, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. What a message we have to declare. And God keep us ever preaching and ever proclaiming the plain yet powerful message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. To the Reverend Mrs. Higginson, to your family, and to the congregation in Lisbon, As a presbytery this evening, we echo collectively those words that the Lord spoke to Joshua as he took up the work of God and started a new chapter in his life. May the Lord make your way prosperous, and may the Lord give you good success. God bless you, God be with you, and may the Lord mightily use you. I want to thank each of the brethren for taking part in the service this evening. It has been a blessing to our hearts. I know that your presence here and your participation in the service is no doubt a great encouragement to the Rev. Higginson this evening. The Rev. Higginson is being installed by the Presbytery. of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster. And therefore, it's good tonight to have officers of Presbytery here to conduct that installation. We have Dr. John Greer, who is the clerk of our Presbytery, and also the moderator, the Reverend Gordon Deane. We're going to ask Dr. Greer if he would come at this stage to put the prescribed questions, and then immediately after he does so, Our moderator, the Reverend Dean, will come to conduct the installation. Thank you. I'll just say, first of all, It's my joy to be here this evening, excuse me, on behalf of Presbytery to put the prescribed questions to the Reverend Higginson on this occasion of his installation to the ministry in the Lisburn Church. And I pray, brother, the Lord be with you and bless you and your wife and family. I say that on behalf of our Presbytery. And may you know the power of God in days to come. We were told not to touch this lectern It's very difficult, so I'll set them on top of the wipes. That might be the safest thing to do, as long as I can see from this distance. Have you the experience of the new birth, and are you convinced of your call to the Christian ministry within the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster? I have, and I am. Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament? not merely to contain but to be the verbally inspired word of the living God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice? I do. Do you sincerely receive and believe the Westminster Standards and the Articles of Faith of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures? I do. Will you subscribe the said confessions and articles as a confession of your own faith? I will. Are you firmly resolved through divine grace to adhere to the doctrine contained in the said confessions and articles and teach and defend it to the utmost of your power against all error? I am. Do you promise to be zealous and faithful in maintaining the truths of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and in working for the purity and peace of the church, whatever persecution or opposition may arise onto you on that account. I do. Will you maintain at all cost a personal reputation and vain worldly popularity, the distinctives of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, and the three fundamentals of the faith as set out by Dr. Henry Cook. A, the Trinity, B, the vicarious atonement of Christ, C, the necessity of the work of the Spirit to originate faith and repentance in the heart of man. I will. Will you maintain with all the strength God shall give you the position in biblical separation from apostasy as taken by the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster in 1951 at the time of its secession from the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. I will. As God helps you, will you expose and resist the continued apostasy from Christ, manifest it within Irish Presbyterianism, Methodism, Episcopalianism, and other visible church bodies, exhorting God's people to obey the teaching and commandment of 1 Timothy 6, 3 to 5? I will. As God helps you, will you expose and resist the errors of Romanism and all other false religions and the errors of charismatism with all of its counterfeits of the genuine doctrine of the person and work of the Holy Spirit? I will. As God helps you, will you give yourself to the constant study of Scripture in order to edify the saints? and win the loss to Christ in your ministry? I will. Do you affirm and promise to proclaim the free offer of the gospel? I do. Do you believe that it is only by the power of the infilling of the Holy Spirit that you can make full proof of your ministry? I do. Do you believe the Presbyterian government and discipline of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster to be founded on and agreeable to the Word of God? And do you promise to adhere to it and support it and to yield submission and be in subjection to your brethren as is taught in the Word of God? I do. Will you publicly expose and oppose the immorality and social vices of this present evil world, such as drinking, dancing, and gambling? and by example live righteously, soberly, and godly before all men? I will. Will you maintain the purity of the communion feast and by all scriptural and lawful means resist any attempt to weaken the testimony of the church in her stand for a born-again communicant membership? I will. Do you engage to be faithful and diligent in the exercise of all private and personal duties which become you as a Christian and minister of the gospel, as well as in all relative duties and the public duties of your office, endeavoring to adorn the profession of the gospel by your conversation and walking with exemplary piety before the flock over which God shall make you overseer. And are you now willing to take charge of this congregation, promising to discharge the duties of the pastor to them, as God shall give you strength. I do, and I am. Reverend Higson, having answered the questions, and I will call upon moderator, Reverend Dayne, to oversee the installation. Reverend Roger Higginson, having answered the prescribed questions, will now sign the following. I believe the Westminster Confession and the Articles of Faith of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster to be founded on and agreeable to the word of God. And as such, I subscribe them as the confession of my faith. Now, normally at this stage in an installation, we would call for the members of Presbytery to come forward, but in these COVID days, that's not an advisable thing. What we're going to do is that we will get those ministers and our brother Eric Graham, representing the elders of Lisburn, to come forward. And as they're coming forward, just to signify that this is an installation that is done by Presbytery, can I ask the ministers and members of Presbytery who are here to stand just where you are. We'll ask those ministers and men that are taking part tonight, first of all, to come forward, and all the other ministers and elders, if you'd stand. Can I ask now the congregation to stand? In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the great head and sole king of the church, and by that authority which he has given to the church for its edification, we do install you, the Reverend Roger Higginson, as the minister of this congregation. And for this purpose, may the blessing of God rest upon you. and the Spirit of God fill your heart. Amen. Can we unite together at the throne of grace in prayer? Our loving and our gracious God, we turn to thee in our Savior's name this evening. We thank thee for the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth. We thank thee for the one who opens doors and shuts doors, And we thank thee for thy leading in the life of thy servant. We thank thee for the way that thou hast put thy hand upon him. We thank thee for the leading to Coleraine. We thank thee for the ministry that he's been given. We thank Thee for the talents that He has. We thank Thee for those precious souls that have come and put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Thee for blessing Thy servant, and we pray that Thou wouldst continue to bless him and put Thy hand upon him. We thank Thee that he is saved. We thank Thee that He's washed in the precious blood of the Lamb. We thank Thee for that day in His experience when He came as a sinner to Jesus. And we thank Thee that He was born again of the Spirit of God. We thank Thee for that transformation. Lord, what a change it is when the Lord comes into our hearts What a change when our sins are washed away. What a change when our destiny is set for heaven and for home. And we pray, Lord, that thou wouldst bless each one that is gathered here tonight, maybe loved ones here, friends here of our brother who are not saved, and we pray that thy hand would be upon them and that thou would save them by thy grace. Oh God, we fear lest our loved ones, our friends, go down the road into a lost eternity. And our Father, we pray that thou wouldst undertake blessed as he goes to Lisbon. We pray that thy hand would be upon him as he preaches there on the Lord's day. We pray, Lord, that it might be a token for good for the incoming days, that thou would save precious souls. And, O God, we pray that the town of Lisbon would ring with the preaching of the gospel. Oh God, our land, our towns, Lord, today they largely ignore thy word, but our God, we pray that thou must give thy servant a voice that will be heard, a voice that will be heeded, and we pray that this land once again would ring with the glorious gospel of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that thou wouldst have all the glory and all the honor and all the praise and we, Lord, just bring ourselves to thy feet and we'd ask that thou wouldst take control and take charge and that thou wouldst bless us in these days for it is in Jesus' precious name. Remember his wife and his children. Be with them. Help them to settle in and undertake, Lord, for all of the circumstances, practically as well. And we thank thee, Lord, that thou art the God who knows the end from the beginning and all about us and cares just the same. Be with us, we pray, for Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen. The congregation can be seated, please. Amen. We do want to offer our congratulations to the Reverend Higginson on his installation to the church in Lisburn. No one was more delighted than I was whenever he received the call to be the next minister of Lisburn because that meant I was going to be relieved of my duties. as intra-moderator. So already tonight, I can feel the burden lifting off me. And I'm not sure if you can feel that weight of responsibility coming upon your shoulders. But I would just want to put on record this evening my thanks to all the folks in Lisburn, to the session, to the committee, to Dr. Douglas, and to the congregation. And I can say it was a pleasure to work with you over these past almost nine months, and we believe the Lord was with us. We did have a blessed time, and we're glad that the Lord has opened the way for the new minister to come, and we would wish you God's richest blessing for the future, and we would assure you and your new minister of our prayerful support. And we're going to come to the next hymn on our order of service, and we're going to stand again. We let you change your position. to sing this hymn. It would normally be the offering hymn, but of course, given the circumstances, for obvious reasons, we'll not be taking up a formal offering, but there will be baskets at the door as you leave tonight, and you can give to help offset the expenses of the installation. And just could I say a word for exiting the church tonight. We do have to observe the social distancing. I know you would so much want to remain behind just to speak to the Reverend Higginson and to wish him well, but I have to encourage you to exit the building tonight. And your presence here this evening is a great indication to our brother of your support for the days ahead. And when it comes to the end of the meeting, those in the gallery could exit first. through the front doors of the church, and once the gallery has emptied, then from downstairs, exiting from the back pews first of all, and all of the exits will be open, and you can leave by the nearest exit. So we're coming to this hymn, and again, it's going to be played for us, and immediately after we sing this hymn, our moderator, the Reverend Gordon Deane is going to come, and bring the charge to the newly installed minister. And then immediately after that, the Reverend Higginson will give a word of testimony. So after the singing, the moderator will immediately come. ♪ Let me shine ♪ ♪ Let my darkness be my blessing ♪ ♪ Let me light the street by night ♪ ♪ Let me reach the highest mountain ♪ ♪ May I reach it today ♪ ♪ Lord, I know a higher involving ♪ ♪ Jesus, Spirit of His blood ♪ ♪ Rising up I tread ♪ ♪ Tears we praise for every trial ♪ ♪ Leads me with the living bread ♪ ♪ Though my weary steps may falter ♪ ♪ And my soul a curse may be ♪ ♪ Rushing from the rock before me ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave His promise, in my Father's house above. When my spirit, boldly mortal, faces Christ and realms of pain, bless my soul through endless ages, Jesus, lend me all Well, it is a great delight to be here this evening and take part in this service. This is likely to be, unless something dramatic happens, this is to be my last public engagement as moderator. So the burdens definitely lifted off me this evening as well. So we're glad to be here, and we congratulate the Reverend Higginson. And we wish him God's blessing in Lisbon as you go there. And we do appreciate our brother and the ministry that he has. And we look forward to hearing of God's blessing in the days ahead in Lisbon. We pray that God will move and bless and undertake for us in these days. Now I wonder if we could turn to the portion of scripture that was read earlier in the meeting and The verses that I want to consider this evening are verses 18 and 19, where it says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel. Amen. We know the Lord will add his blessing to the reading of his word of praise. Let's unite in a word of prayer. Our gracious and our loving God, we do thank Thee for the opportunity of coming to Thee and coming around Thy Word afresh this evening. Lord, it is Thy presence that makes the feast, and we want to hear from Thee. We want to hear Thy Word, not any word, but Thy Word. And we pray, Lord, that Thou would speak tonight to every heart. We pray for any who are not saved, that thou wouldst by thy grace work in their hearts and save them. We pray that they might be brought, savingly, to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray, Lord, for thy people that thou wouldst bless us. We pray for the Reverend Higginson, that thy hand would be upon him, Lord, that thou must encourage him as he starts out on the work and witness there in Lisbon. Bless the congregation in Lisbon. We pray that they might go forward in these days, Lord, that they might take new ground, Lord, that they may take ground from the devil. Thou hast said, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And we pray that thou wouldst enable us to step into the victory that our Savior has already wrought on Calvary. And we pray for the mighty blessing of God to be upon us. draw us nigh unto thee, pour out thy blessing upon us, as we seek to serve thee in this day. For it is in Jesus' precious name that we'd ask these things. Amen. Amen. The passage of scripture that we have this evening is a well-known one. It's the passage that describes the armor of God And if we're going to stand against the wiles of the devil in this day and generation, we need to put on the whole armor of God. We need to be clothed and endued in order to stand. But I want you to see that having been clothed in the armor, he says that we need something else. He says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all sins. There are those who would say that this prayer is another part of the armor, that it is the last part of the armor. But I think really, rather than just being another piece of the armor, what Paul really is saying here, that all of the pieces of the armor are to be accompanied by prayer. There are a couple of hymns that go by hymnology, but nevertheless, there are a couple of hymns that seem to describe this. You think of George Duffield's hymn, Stand Up, stand up for Jesus. And there is a verse in that hymn. It's not the verse that we have in our hymn books, but it is one that is well known. It says, stand up, stand up for Jesus. Stand in his strength alone. The arm of flesh will feel you. You dare not trust your own. Put on the gospel armor. Each part put on with prayer. where duty calls or danger be never wanting there. So as we put on the panoply, the armor here, we put on each part with prayer. But I want you to see what he prays for. He says here not only that we're to pray, but he gives us indications of what we're to pray for. And he says here, and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel." As he prays, you'll notice that he doesn't pray for a bigger building or for a bigger congregation. He is not looking for power or something like that. What he prays for is for utterance to be given unto him, that he might make known the gospel boldly. And in the context here, we see the importance of prayer with a pray in the Holy Spirit. We're to pray to God. We're called as God's people to pray. But it is just interesting to see what it is, the priority that the Apostle Paul has here in the place of prayer. Now, it's not all his priority. We'd go to other places in the Scriptures and we'd find other things that he places as a priority. But nevertheless, I want you to see here, there are indications of what it is that he wants. Here is the New Testament church. We have many different shapes and sizes of churches today. We have different ways of going in the evangelical world. Used to be that you went to an evangelical church and it was more or less the same thing. But now there is a great diversity. But what we want, and what the Reverend Higginson will want, and Lisburn, and what the people of Lisburn Church will want, is a church that is a New Testament church. A church like that which the apostles preached in, and that which was in the early days of the New Testament. A church that has power, a church that is seeking to go forward, and turning the world upside down. Well, here is what the apostle Paul prays. Here are his priorities for such a church. And I want us just to think about that for a few minutes in this meeting tonight. We want to look at the priorities that Paul wants us to pray for. And the first thing that he wants us to pray for, the first priority, is the declaration of the mystery. Look at what he says. He wants the people to make supplication for all saints And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel." So the thing that Paul is concerned about, his priority here, is the declaration of the gospel. the preaching of the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And he says that the mystery of the gospel is to be made known. Now, I want you to think about those words, about the mystery of the gospel. And I want you to see, first of all, that this mystery is revealed. You know, we think about a mystery as something enshrouded or hidden. We might think that it is indicating something mysterious. Mysterious, in our terms, is something that we just really don't understand. And there is a sense in which the gospel is mysterious like that. But Martyn Lloyd-Jones in one of his books, spoke about a young preacher that he met one time. He went to a church, and this young preacher was preaching, and he said, you know, the gospel is not to be tied down. And he was one of those type of people who had a prejudice against creeds and against confessions of faith. And he says, well, there are those people who want to make definitions of the gospel and they want to set it out in creeds and confessions. He says, we shouldn't do that because the gospel is a mystery. Well of course the young man had got it completely wrong, because Paul describes this mystery as being revealed here. He speaks of how he is to open his mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. And that's the thing. The mystery of the gospel is made known in our Lord Jesus Christ. And what we as his preachers are called to do is to make known that mystery, to open the Word of God and declare that there is a Savior, that there is one who is able and is mighty to save in this day. He is able to save to the uttermost. all that come unto God by him. And dear friend, today, it may be that the gospel is something of a mystery to you, but thank God that when you come to the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Holy Spirit's enlightening, you can know your sins forgiven, and you can be washed in the precious blood of the Lamb. Thank God tonight. Now that's what we are to make known. this mystery of the gospel. But while I want you to see that the mystery is revealed, I also want you to see that the mystery is real. There are things about the gospel that are hard to understand. There are depths to the gospel that we will never fathom. And there are things about Christ that no person fully understands because he's God and we can't understand God. But I want you to think about how the gospel and the Lord Jesus Christ was so often very surprising. You think of how when the angel came to Mary and revealed that the Savior would be born. You remember in Luke chapter 1 and verse 34, it said, then said, Mary unto the angel, how shall this be seen? I know not a man. And this was mysterious, this was surprising, this was a shock to her, and there was that element of shock within it. And she maybe questioned a little, and then she was assured that this indeed was of God. We think of when Mary and Joseph brought the Lord Jesus to the temple. And he was 12, you remember how Mary and Joseph left him and they made their way home and he was still in the temple. And you remember how they came back and they found him among the doctors of the law answering their questions. And it says, all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and his answers. Oh, here they were astonished by Christ. Oh, when we see the Lord Jesus Christ, He is out of the ordinary. He is not the ordinary. He's not just some man or some teacher. Here is the blessed Son of God. Remember how when the Lord proclaimed Himself to be the bread of life, We are told how he told the people that they must eat of his flesh and drink of his blood if they were to have eternal life. And you remember how that it says that many said, this is a hard teaching and many grumbled and went away. because they couldn't understand the teaching, and even the disciples, they were a little bit surprised, and maybe they questioned, but they did the wise thing, and they stayed there, and they listened to the Lord Jesus, and they didn't find the fact that they didn't understand a reason to leave. You know, there are things that we don't understand, but it's not a reason. to leave the Savior, because he is surprising. There are things about the Lord Jesus Christ that we will not understand. You remember the Lord, one time he spoke to the people in parables. And people think, you know, well, the Lord Jesus used parables because it was just like an illustration in a sermon. But the parables were more than that. Because in Matthew chapter 13 and verse 10, the disciples asked the question, it says, and the disciples came and said unto him, why speakest thou unto them in parables? And this was his reply. He says in verse 11, he answered and said unto them, because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. He says, to you, you can understand the mystery. But there are others who cannot understand the mystery, those who remain in the darkness. And this is something that we constantly find. We read in 1 Corinthians 4 and 11, let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. But this is what I want you to see. If your gospel, the gospel that you hear, It doesn't surprise you. If the gospel that you hear takes out the supernatural element, if you think you can understand it all and you know it up and down, dear friend, it's not the true gospel. When the people heard the Lord Jesus Christ, they said, never man speak like this man. He took them by surprise. And there's all, and people think, well, if I can understand, if I can take it all in. Dear friend, what you've got to do is come by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you've got to trust him for your soul's salvation. The mystery is real because this gospel is supernatural. It is of God. And because it's of God, there are things that are going to surprise you. There are things that are going to shock you. The mystery is real. But the mystery is reliable, because it is God that gives this mystery. It's revealed, as we said, in the person of Christ. And God reveals these things in the Word of God, and he makes known the mystery. And so does the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the preaching of the Word, it is reliable. Oh, you can stake your eternity upon this gospel. And then it is rewarding because it is the good news, the good news that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Oh, we see the declaration of the mystery. This is the priority that the mystery of the gospel be declared and that it be preached and it be broadcast out into the community in which we live. Not only does he have the priority of the declaration of the mystery, but he has the priority here of the duties of the messenger. The duty of the minister is to preach the gospel. Now, you see there the supremacy of preaching. Paul asked for prayer. That utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. And this is crucial. And I want you to see that Paul puts this front and center. This is the prayer. He's in spiritual warfare here. He's speaking about wrestling against the devil and against the wiles of the devil and against spiritual wickedness in high places and all of the rest of this. And what do we do? We preach. We preach. We preach the word. We're instant in season and out of season. I read a little piece, and I'm not advocating what it says. Do not take this literally. But this is what it said, and I understand the sentiment of the person that wrote it. He said, of the preacher, of the minister, burn his eyes with weary study. Wreck his emotional poise with worry for God, and make him exchange his pious stance for a humble walk with God and man. Make him spend and be spent for the glory of God. Rip out his telephone, burn up his ecclesiastical success sheets, put water in his gas tank, give him a Bible, and tie him to the pulpit, and make him preach the word of the living God. Well, I'm not advocating that literally for our brother this evening, or I'm not advocating putting, vandalizing the minister's property, or restricting his liberty, or putting water in his gas tank or anything else. But you can see what he was at, that man. He wanted them to understand that preaching is vital. Vital, central. And we need to guard the pulpit. Guard the pulpit in these days. We have all sorts of innovations in the church today. And the pulpit, the preaching the word, in many places has taken on less and less importance. And you know, we're orthodox, we stand for these things. But you know the way that these things come in, they come in slowly, and we become conditioned to the things. And gradually and gradually we become worn away and we begin to give less and less time to the preaching of the word. No, we're to preach Christ and him crucified. We are to direct the minds of people to the only remedy for their souls and the rallying cry is Christ and him crucified. But aside from that, It'll encourage the people of God as we look to Christ, but it'll also remind the devil that he's a defeated foe. And then, thank God, there'll be the meetings of seeing precious, never-dying souls come to Christ. I wonder if you're saved tonight. I wonder if you're washed in the blood. And it'd be a wonderful thing if, in this meeting, if someone was to come and put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Dear friend, you need Him. That's an understatement. You must have Him. You must be born again. The supremacy of preaching. But then look at the subject of preaching. It is the message. that God has given us. He says, and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. And Paul here, the word, the utterance there is a word, it's the word logos in the Greek, it just means a word, a word. What do we need as we go into the pulpit on the Lord's Day? A word from God. A word from God. And if the pastor gets up into the pulpit and preaches anything other than the word that God has given him, then His message is no more authoritative than anybody else's message, or anybody else's thoughts, or anybody else's opinions. No, we need a message from God. You know, there are times when I have thought that I had a message for a meeting. And God has changed my mind right at the very end. And I have messages. My sadness is that I thought they were good messages, and I've lost them. But I never preached them. Never preached them, because it wasn't the message for the situation. And you know, we need a message. We need a word from God. That's what you need, child of God. That's what you need, sinner. You need to hear what God wants you to hear. And we think of that, dear friend, if the minister then comes with a word from God. Those of you that are sitting there listening, if this is a word from God, you need to hear. You need to heed. You need to listen. Because here is a man coming with God's Word for your soul. And that's something that you need to heed to. Not only has the apostle here the priority of the declaration of the mystery and the duties of the messenger, But then he has another priority as he prays, the disposition of the man. Now you notice he says that he wants to preach, but how does he want to preach? That I may open my mouth boldly. In Acts chapter 4, verses 29 to 31, we see the boldness of the apostles in their preaching and how they began to proclaim the Word of God. And dear friend, here was this boldness. We are to preach Boldly. Now, today that's not popular. Today that is something that people want their ears tickled. They want a little message that will be maybe a comedy show or something that will be entertaining for them. But no, no, he says, I want to preach boldly. Now that's amazing. Of all people, You would think that the Apostle Paul was a bold preacher. You'd think of him striding into the town of Athens, with all its idolatry, or any of the towns that he went into, with all its idolatry, and going into the marketplace, and going there to preach the gospel amongst all of those people. Oh, he was a bold, preacher? Why is he asking that he might open his mouth boldly? Well, I think the answer to that is because Paul knew that the reason that he had boldness to preach is because God's people were praying for him. That there were those who were praying that he could open his mouth boldly. And people in Lisbon, those of you that are in other congregations, you need to pray for your minister, that he might have a boldness to preach, and that he might have fear of no man or no situation, that whatever it is, the word that God has given, I'm going to proclaim that word. No matter what it is, I'm going to proclaim that word. He's to preach boldly. And then he is to preach constantly, because he says, there for which I am an ambassador in chains, that in it I may speak boldly as he ought to speak. So here is Paul in prison. He's bound here between two strong Roman guards. And he is wanting to preach and be bold in the prison. So it doesn't matter where he is. When people want to say, oh, Paul, you've got yourself into trouble here. You'd be as well shutting your mouth, and you'd be as well saying nothing. But there he is between these imperial guards, and he preaches to them. And every so often the shift will change, and the guard will change, and he has a new congregation to preach to. And he preaches to them, and he wants boldness to preach to these men. Sometimes, you know, we think, well, if the Lord gave me a big congregation, I'd preach. If the Lord brought me into special circumstances, I'd preach. You know, here he is in this Roman prison. I have been in the Mamertine prison. I don't know whether that's where he was until then, but it's a hole in the ground. That's what it is. And there's steps going down now into one of the cells. But in that time, they just threw them in. Complete darkness. But it didn't matter about the circumstances. Didn't matter about the difficulties. He was going to preach anyway. And you know, we have special circumstances today, and I suppose it's become a little bit harder to preach, and particularly in the lockdown, and if another lockdown comes. We have all sorts of difficulties, and every one of us do. but it doesn't matter about the circumstances. Preach on, be instant, in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. We see the disposition of the man. He's to preach boldly and constantly. Then I want you to see another priority here, the desire of the minister. Because here, look at verse 18, he says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And then he says this, and for me. Here's the desire of the minister. Pray for me. I know that that would be the desire of Mr. Higginson. My desire for my congregation, pray for me. Pray for me. And I want you to see, you notice in that portion of Scripture, the word all is used four times. And it's very interesting to look at those alls because the first all speaks about the frequency of prayer, praying always. And the Greek word all is in there, always. Praying always, and there you have the frequency of prayer. What does that mean? Just exactly what it says. We think of what it says in Luke 21 and verse 36, watch ye therefore and pray always. It says in Acts 6 and 4, we will give ourselves continually to prayer. In Romans 12.12, continuing instant in prayer. Colossians 4.2, continuing prayer. And you can multiply the text through the word of God. 1 Thessalonians 5 and 7, pray without ceasing. Wherever you go, make it a subject of prayer. If you see something that is wonderful, you can lift your heart to God and thank God for it. If you see something that is evil, you can lift your heart to God and pray that it may be overcome. If you see somebody that is in need, you can pray for their need. Whatever circumstance you are in, you can pray and make it a subject of prayer. And it's good if we have a praying people. If we have a praying people in the pew who are praying always, what a difference that's going to make. What a transformation that's going to make. We see the frequency in prayer. But look at the second one. It speaks about the fulsomeness of prayer. With all prayer and supplication, What does he mean by that? All kinds of prayer. You speak of public prayers and private prayers, verbal prayers and silent prayers. It speaks about confessions. It speaks about supplications. It speaks about thanksgiving. It speaks about kneeling prayer and standing prayer. It speaks about lying down prayer, lifting your hands, getting on your knees. Dear friend, all kinds of prayer. In every circumstance, praying with all kinds of prayer. Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2 and verse 8, he says, I will that all men everywhere pray. Pray in the general pattern of life. It's prayer. Your breath. the fulsomeness of prayer. And then look at the third all. It speaks about the fashion of prayer. He says, watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication. Mark 14 and verse 38, watch and pray. 1 Peter 4, 7, watch unto prayer, incessant prayer, attentive prayer, watching, constant prayer, alert prayer. so that you're not distracted by the devil, so that you're not distracted by the flesh, so that you're not taken away from these things by the old fleshly desires. Here is the fashion of prayer, watching, persevering. It's easy to give up. My, the tempter comes in these days to discourage us and to stop us in the place of prayer. Don't give up. Pray on. Look at the fourth awl. That's the focus of our prayers for all saints, for God's people. Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. We are to be concerned about others and those around us. But look at this. In the midst of it all, I want you to see the statement that he makes. He speaks about in the Spirit. All this prayer He says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. This has got to be spiritual prayer, Spirit-given prayer. We think of what it says in Romans 8 and 28, or 26, rather. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit itself, or himself, maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." And what we need to do is pray the prayers that are made for us by the Holy Spirit, the burdens that he puts in our hearts, led by the Spirit in the place of prayer. It's a Spirit-driven, Spirit-directed prayer. What a difference that will be. We had that in our congregations, Lisbon Church, all of our churches. Will you covenant to pray for God's servant? Pray for him on the Lord's Day. Pray that souls will be brought in. Pray that God will move. And I know that the devil has discouraged maybe at times. I know that maybe there are some of you here, and you used to be in the prayer meeting, and you're not there now, and you become discouraged in prayer. No, God says, pray in all ways. Pray in all ways. Pray in the Spirit. Pray for God's servant. Pray for your fellow congregation members. Pray for your town. Pray that God will enter in. That's the priority. But one more thing that is a priority here in prayer. There's a direction to the members. He says, pray for me. As we say, pray for your pastor. Satan knows that if he can get the pastor to fall into sin, if he can get the pastor into backslidden condition, if he can get the pastor discouraged, well, It's the pastor's fault. He's not walking with God. But on the other hand, the pastor, the minister, is the focus of the devil's attack. And the devil will come and will put an incredible amount of pressure on the minister. And that's why he needs your prayers. Now in the context, Paul here has one thing in mind. He's asking for boldness to preach. And it's through this preaching that souls are saved. And this is warfare activity. We are in a war. We are in a fight. We're in a battle. Charles, you've heard this story before, but you think of Sage Spurgeon, Charles Spurgeon. And one day, there was a group of visitors standing at the door of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, waiting to try and get in. Five young college students had come along to hear the great preacher preach. A man said to them, he says, come on in here. I'll show you around. And he said, I'll show you the heating plant of the tabernacle. Well, it was a hot day. They didn't particularly want to see a heating plant. But in order to humor him, they went along. And of course, they went down into the basement and Spurgeon, as it was, it was Spurgeon himself, opened the doors, 700 people in the basement of the tabernacle praying. And he introduced himself then, he said, I am C.H. Burgell. And he says, that's the secret of the ministry here. I have praying people. And if you want Liz Byrne transformed, and if you want your loved ones brought to Christ, And if you want to see a move of God, the first thing that God will want you to do is to start pray. Pray. Pray that God's servant may have boldness. Pray that God's servant will have a word that utterance may be given unto him. Pray that the gospel of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, will sound out, because that's the answer to the problems of Ulster, and that's the answer to the problems of your family, and that's the answer to your need. Christ is the answer. And oh, that we may see God in his mercy. break in in these days and move by his power. Let's just bow in a wee word of prayer. Our loving God and our gracious Father, we do thank thee for thy servant tonight. We thank thee, Lord, for thy word to our hearts. And Lord, it underlines how very far short we come. And yet, Lord, we thank thee for thy word. Teach us to pray. Teach us to pray constantly. Teach us to pray in the Spirit. Teach us to pray boldly. Teach us to pray with faith that God may bless in our day and in our generation for Jesus' sake. Amen. At this stage, the Reverend Higginson is going to come and is going to give a word of testimony. Well, first of all, can I thank the Reverend Dayne so much tonight for bringing the Word of God. I feel so privileged that in this last Presbytery engagement, he was here to preach God's Word. And that's been a word to my heart. And I thank you so much, Mr. Dane, for not only tonight, but for your leadership, and your fellowship, and your friendship, and your guidance over the last number of years as you've been the moderator of our denomination. I want to thank you all as well for coming. I wasn't sure how many would be here tonight. I'm very surprised to see so many. I thought it would just be a small handful of people with all of the restrictions. And given that it's me, I didn't think many people would come. But we very much appreciate everybody who has given of their time. And to all of the men who have taken part tonight, we thank God for you. I want to thank Lisbon as well, as a congregation, for putting their confidence in me. I feel very much overwhelmed by the Lord's grace, the Lord's guidance, and by your prayers, and by putting your confidence and issuing a call. I feel so unworthy. I feel so unable. But we know tonight that our sufficiency is of God. And I want to thank you, and I want to tell you tonight that I'm going to try my best to serve you, to pray with you, to pray for you, and to minister God's Word as best I can with God's grace and with God's help. I want to thank the Session of Lisbon. and the committee for their kindness to us, for their hospitality already, and for all that they have done to Dr. Douglas and to the Reverend Thomas Martin, two men that I hold in such high esteem. I sat under their ministry as a young man in the early 20s, and I've never forgotten some of the messages that they preached in those days and for their prayers and for their support over the years. And I thank Mr. Kenny as well and his wife for all that they have done. He's been so diligent and so encouraging. He's given so much guidance and instruction and has gone well beyond his responsibilities, I believe. To the people of Coleraine, many are listening in tonight for all of their prayers and texts and cards and kindness over the last few weeks. And to the congregation at large for their fellowship and for their friendship. over the last 12 years. I answered the call that was issued in this very church a number of months ago. And I said that the 12 years that God has given us in Coleraine have been the happiest years of our lives and we love The people in Coleraine, and we know that God will have plans for them and purposes for them. And I believe that God has and will have a man of his choosing, a man that will be used in a greater measure than I ever was or ever could have been. Thank the congregation there, the session and the committee, and the clerk of session especially, Mr. Stephen McLean. I want to thank my family. My mom and dad are here tonight. I thank them for their support over the years. And I thank Elaine's parents as well, Mr. and Mrs. Barry Stewart, Elaine's two brothers, David and Andrew, and their families as well. And also, of course, my own wife, Elaine, And Joshua, he's conked out here at the front. And most people sleep during whenever I get up. It's just one of the things that happens. And Luke and Sura as well. Most of all things, I want to thank my great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, tonight there are so many things that I do not understand about my God. There are many things that I believe, but many things that I do believe that I do not understand. Some of the great mysteries of the faith, the Trinity, the intricacies of the virgin birth, how the Spirit of God inspired men to write down the words of God. These are things that I believe. but they are things that I do not understand. God's eternality, His wisdom, His providence. But the one thing that I can never understand is how the God of heaven could set His eternal love upon a sinner like me. That God would send His only begotten Son to die on a cross for my sins. Paul spoke about the Son of God who loved me and who gave himself for me. And whenever I really got a hold of that truth, I have to be honest and say I haven't been able to get over it. Sometimes I ask myself, do I really believe it? It's so wonderful, it's so magnificent, it's so tremendous, it's so incomprehensible. The Son of God, the Son of God loved me. The Son of God loved me and gave. And the Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me. I was born in 1978 in the Lagan Valley Hospital in Lisbon. to two loving parents. My father was kind and hardworking. My mother was always there for us at home, and she was very gracious and understanding. And I thank God for them. I was sent along to Sunday school, to the boys' brigade, to the Christian Endeavor, to a crusader class on a Sunday afternoon. And then I was taken, not sent, but taken along to church, a Presbyterian church in Lisbon. And I thank God for all of the privileges that I enjoyed as a young boy. And I have to be honest tonight and say I can never remember a time in my life when I didn't believe in my mind that there was a God out there somewhere. I can't recall a time where I ever questioned whether or not the Bible was the Word of God. I always seemed to know in my heart that I was a sinner and I was lost. But none of those things made me a Christian. It wasn't until I was 13 years of age, 1992, at a young people's weekend in County Fermanagh, just outside of the village of Kesh, a little place called the Willow Pattern Pantry. It was the first time that I'd ever been away on a youth fellowship weekend. And right at the very opening night, a man who had been invited to speak at those meetings, his name was Norman Morrell. met me going into the hall where the meetings were being held, and it was a dark, dark night in the month of March, and there was a spotlight in the apex of that little hall. And I was walking in, and he was coming out, and he stopped me, and he put out his hand, and he said, what's your name? And I said, Roger. He says, Roger, are you a Christian? And I said, yes. And he said, that's wonderful. And he went on his way, and I was just about to go in, and I stopped, and I was standing in this spotlight. Are you a Christian? And I told that man that I was a Christian because I suppose I felt like I was a Christian. I thought I was a Christian. I went to church. I said my prayers. I believed everything that I had heard about the Word of God. But none of those things meant that I was a true, sincere, born-again Christian. And that got a whole thought process going over that young people's weekend. He got up to give his testimony. And the interesting thing is that just about a month ago, I went online to see if I could hear his testimony. And I was saddened to discover that that man went to be with the Savior just back in July of this year. I don't think he ever really knew much about the impact that that one question had in my life. He gave his testimony. Other young people stood up and testified. And I really knew that God was getting a hook in my heart and drawing me to himself. And then they stood up and they sang this old chorus. I was once in darkness, but now my eyes can see. I was lost, but Jesus sought and found me. Oh, what love he offers. Oh, what peace he gives. I will sing forevermore he lives. And there I was as a young teenage boy, realizing for the first time in my life that all that this was in the word of God, that yes, it was true, but not it was in my heart. And I really came to believe that the son of God loved me and gave himself for me. A number of years after that, in 1998, 1999, going on a little bit deeper with God and reading the Word of God more and listening to more preachers and reading more Christian literature, I really felt this burden of heart to surrender my life, my future, my service to Him. I didn't know what that would entail. God was opening up, maybe, opportunities to serve Him. I can remember working as a fabricator, stroke welder, and underneath the mask one day, tears rolling down my cheeks, boss away to another place, just me and the workshop on my own, yielding my life to the Lord for whatever that would be. That was about 1999, and that was the same year that I felt the call of God to begin to attend the Free Presbyterian Church, to separate from maybe compromised situations and circumstances and denominations and started going to the Free Presbyterian Church. That was 21 years ago, almost to the month, October 1999, 21 years ago. And I was 21 years of age at that particular time. It's half of my lifetime ago. It just seems like a few days ago. One Monday night, going into the prayer meeting, having prayed at home about the will of God for my life, God spoke to my heart. Noreen McAfee was giving a deputation, and she read. And it was a verse that I had listened to and read just before I had left the house. Exodus 3, verse 10, "'Come now, therefore, and I will send thee.'" And I knew that God was speaking to my heart. I'd gone through the process of applying for a Bible college. I'd got accepted to start in 2002. And then one Sunday night, coming out of church, Mr. Douglas stopped me. Randallstown Youth Rally was on. I was getting a lift with a couple. They might be here tonight. And he said, can I speak to you for just a minute? And I said, absolutely. And he brought me into a little side room. And I wonder, have I done something wrong? Am I in trouble? And he just asked a simple question, would you consider going to Australia for two years. And so off we went to Port Lincoln. During that time, I got in touch with Elaine Stewart. We got to know each other well. We came home, entered into Bible college. Two years into that, we got married. Two years after that, four years into college, we got the call to Coleraine. And Sarah was just six weeks old at that time. And so it was a whole new beginning for us, a new child, a new house, a new family, a new church family, a new calling in life. And now 12 years later, here we are tonight. And I can say tonight that the Lord is so good. He's a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knoweth them that trust in Him. I don't want to go into all how the Lord led to Lisbon, but just a couple of things. I'll maybe relate this a little bit more on Monday night coming at the prayer meeting in Lisbon. Mr. Martin had got the call to Cumber, but about a year before that, the Reverend Tom Shaw had preached in her church in Coleraine. And I was so content. I remember sitting at the front, and these revival meetings were really well attended, and it was a full house that night. I remember thinking, Lord, you've been so good. We love this place. I would hate ever to leave it. I'm so comfortable, so content here. And during the course of his address, he talked about how the Lord, at the age of 60, had spoken into his heart and life through a little book entitled, Out of Your Comfort Zone. It was sitting in his study. It was written by a friend of his. His daughter came in, and she pointed to the book and said, Dad, are you willing to get out of your comfort zone? And that was like an arrow to my heart. Are you willing to get out of your comfort zone? And the interesting thing about that is I was in an establishment today. And there was a little stack of secondhand books and secondhand DVDs, not very many. Not very many of them were even Christian books. But right there in the middle, Was that very same book out of your comfort zone? 20p was the price on it. You couldn't get a bargain like that. So I bought that little book home. But God spoke to me that night. Are you willing to get out of your comfort zone? Mr. Martin had got the call to Cumber. And a number of weeks after that, the phone went again. And it was Mr. Douglas. He said, can I speak to you? And I immediately thought the last time Mr. Douglas asked to speak to me was about going to Australia. So he's not ringing to talk about the weather. And that was our prayer meeting night. The Reverend Wesley Graham was booked to speak at a deputation a number of months after that. But our session in Coleraine wanted to have him just to come a little bit earlier. And he came along at very, very short notice. He wasn't all that long home at the time. He never got back to do the deputation that he was supposed to do. It was the last time I'd ever heard the man preach. He preached that night from Joshua chapter 1. Moses had moved on. God was raising up Joshua. Young man full of fear and trepidation to stand into the footsteps of giants who had gone on before. Full of fear, full of trepidation. And yet the Lord spoke to Joshua and said, in Joshua 1 verse 5, As I was with Moses, I will be with thee. I will not fail thee nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage. Verse 9, Have I not commanded thee be strong and of a good courage? Be not afraid. And I tell you, for some reason that night I was afraid. Next day, Dr. Douglas said, would you just pray? There was no pressure. Just pray about Lisbon. That's really all it was. And this went on. And then at the minister's week of prayer, I thought before the Lord, and before that week of prayer commenced, I said, Lord, I need to know this week if I should continue to pray about this. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? That was my specific prayer in the Wednesday of the week of prayer in January of this year. And as I lifted my Bible just a few moments later to do my Bible readings, it was about Saul of Tarsus. Same situation, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And it was arise and go into the city. And I knew that God was doing something. And here we are tonight. Leaving Coleraine was probably the hardest decision I have ever made. But the Apostle Paul said that God's will is good. It's acceptable. And it's perfect. But it might not necessarily be easy. But it's always good. It's always perfect. And it's always acceptable. Friend, tonight the Lord is good, stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him. The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me." That's the most amazing truth in all the world. Speaking to somebody in Coleraine, before I left, a man just down the street got to know him a little bit. And I asked him, was he a Christian? And we kept talking about the things of God. And I said to him, you know, the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me. I says, if you believe that and you grasp that, your life can never be the same if you lay hold upon that. I wonder, have you ever laid hold upon it? I wonder, have you ever kneeled before God Almighty? and believed in your heart that the Son of God died for you. And you've yielded up your heart and life to him and said, Lord, save me. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing tonight in these uncertain days that we're living in, if you were to have an assurance that regardless of the uncertain circumstances around us, that you would have an assurance that it's well with your soul. D.L. Moody said, give your life to God. He can do more with it than you ever could. Isaac Watts, as he wrote his great hymn, said, when I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and poor contempt and all my pride. Were the whole realm of nature mine, That or an offering far too small, but love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. My friends, tonight, may God bless every single one of us. And may He be pleased to visit our land and our churches and our homes. and our hearts with the breath of His Spirit. Can we just pray together and then we'll maybe sing this closing hymn. Our Father, we want to magnify and exalt and glorify the wonderful and worthy and lovely name of thy son. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in the believer's ears. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds. It drives away his fear. We thank Thee, O God, tonight for this meeting, for all who have taken part or touched it in any way. We thank Thee for all who have come, given of their time, to sit, Lord, within these walls. And we thank Thee, Lord, for Thy Word. We praise Thee, O God, for the message we have heard tonight from Thy servant. And we pray that You will lead him and bless him and encourage him. Remember the church in Coleraine. Remember the church, O God, in Lisbon. Remember every church in our presbytery and every faithful witness and ambassador to the cross right across our land and right across the world. Lord, we look to Thee. Come and help us. Visit us, O God, in these days. And may multitudes of precious souls be turned to Christ and brought into the family and fold of God. So hear and answer prayer. part us a little bit later with Thy blessing, we humbly ask in the Savior's name and for God's everlasting glory. Amen. Now, I think the hymn should be up here. It's that hymn that I mentioned, a personal favorite of mine and certainly of many. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory Died. We'll stand together and then we'll just have the benediction and then immediately after that we'll ask Mr. Eric Graham. I think he's going to come and bring some words of welcome as well. And then just after Mr. Graham Finishes his remarks, I've been asked to just tell the congregation to disperse. And I think that's going to be done in the gallery first, just row by row. And there should be ushers. And then whenever the gallery have left, then downstairs again, exiting from the back. I apologize we can't shake hands. But we'll see hopefully some of you in the Lord's day, and some of you further down the line. And hopefully, by God's grace, all of you one day in the glory. But let's sing this lovely hymn when I survey. See from his head, his hands, his lips, are all that I love, O Israel. ♪ And sorrow meek, or vice the host, to creation kind. ♪ ♪ Where'er, oh where, a pager mine, and where'er, oh where, ♪ But so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my heart. Father, we thank Thee, O God, for the cross. We praise Thee for a Savior that loves us, who is worthy of our souls, our lives, our all. We pray now that Thou wilt part us with Thy fear and favor and blessing just a few moments' time. Take us all to their homes in safety. Keep us close to the Savior's side. Lead us on with Thyself. Use us, Lord, in some way in these days for thine honour and for thy glory. Now may the blessing of God the Father and the love and the salvation of God the Son and the fellowship and the comfort and the guidance, aye, and the infilling of the Spirit of God be our abiding portion now and until Christ comes or calls us home. We pray in his name and for his glory. Amen. I'd like to thank you all for your presence with us tonight. It means so much to us as a congregation in Lisbon on this milestone in our church's history. I'd like again to thank the Reverend Brown and the oversight of the congregation here in Martyrs for permitting us to use this building on this special occasion. One of the responsibilities of being an elder is to be an overseer in the work of God. And it was no surprise to us when the Reverend Higginson, after some 21 years, as he reminded us tonight, joined with us in our congregation in Lisbon It was no surprise to us in the session whenever the Lord's servant then announced to us that he felt the call of God to go into Bible college. We've watched his progress ever since and it's a joy tonight to stand here and welcome him and his wife Elaine and their daughter Sarah and their sons Luke and Joshua into our congregation in Lisbon. The Reverend Dane has emphasized the responsibility of prayer tonight. The Reverend Higginson knows well that we put a high value on prayer in our congregation at this point. I believe that we stand here tonight having called him as our minister and him accepting that call in answer to prayer. I believe the Lord worked in his heart and in his life And we had special times of prayer set aside in our congregation this week for the Lord's servant taking up his ministry this Lord's Day and also for our congregation. We had the privilege on Monday night of rehearsing with our congregation how the Lord led us to this occasion. And we're very thankful indeed for the Lord answering prayer and for leading his servant and his wife and family into our congregation. I'd like to assure him of our prayerful support in our congregation in Lisbon tonight. And we do so because our Savior said, verily I say unto you, as much as you've done it unto the least of these my brethren, you've done it unto me. And we support the Lord's servant tonight in his ministry in Lisburn. In the days ahead, we'll be much in prayer for him. We look forward to him taking up his ministry in the Lord's day. And it's a privilege for me now to call the Reverend Mrs. Higginson and their children to come to the front with some little presentations. Her brother, Mr. Hamilton, the treasurer of the congregation, is going to lay them out before them here. And we would like them to come up to the front now. This time of social distancing, we're not supposed to have a whole lot of touching and people coming up, passing one another and handing things over, so it's much easier when there's few hands upon it. But we pray that the hand of the Lord will be upon us all in the days ahead in Lisbon and that we'll know God's blessing. I believe that we have known something of the presence of the Lord in our congregation in recent times. And we believe that we're in for days of blessing in the days ahead. My last responsibility and pleasant duty tonight is to invite the Reverend Kenny and his wife Heather to come to the front tonight. The Reverend Kenny has been a great interim moderator for us in our congregation. His ministry has been very highly esteemed in our congregation in Lisburn. And I would like to thank you, brother, for your diligence in your duties as interim moderator. You've gone beyond the bounds of responsibility, and that has been very much appreciated in our congregation. And to you, Mrs. Kenney, for doing without your husband in those times when he has went the extra mile for us. But we assure you of our prayers and our gratitude in bringing us as a congregation under God to this great milestone tonight. We said on Sunday morning it is the Reverend Kenny's last opportunity to preach to us as interim moderator, but we trusted it will not be the last time that I'll be preaching from our pulpit. So it's our great privilege to ask you tonight, Mrs. Kenny, to accept these prayers as our gratitude. And Reverend Kenny, there's a little something for you as well. I will thank you sincerely in the Savior's name. Thank you.